REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE on Member States implementation of the Council Directive 2006/117/EURATOM on the supervision and control of shipments of radioactive waste and spent fuel Third Report
Date: 2019-12-17
Institutions: Directorate-General for Energy, European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, application of EU law, cross-border transport, export of waste, nuclear fuel, nuclear safety, radioactive waste, transport of dangerous goods

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 17.12.2019 COM(2019) 633 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE on Member States implementation of the Council Directive 2006/117/EURATOM on the supervision and control of shipments of radioactive waste and spent fuel         Third Report {SWD(2019) 437 final}  
 
 
Contents 

1. 

Introduction ................................................................................................................... 2 

1.1. 

Context .......................................................................................................................... 3 

2. 

2.1. 

2.2. 

2.3. 

2.4. 

3. 

The legal framework and its implementation ............................................................... 3 

General principles for supervision and control of shipments ....................................... 4 

Implementation of the Directive ................................................................................... 6 

Opinion of the Advisory Committee ............................................................................ 6 

Competent authorities ................................................................................................... 7 

Observations and trends ................................................................................................ 7 

3.1. 

Statistics (2015-2017) ................................................................................................... 9 

4. 

5. 

Follow-up from the previous reporting period ........................................................... 12 

Conclusions ................................................................................................................. 12 

1 

 
 
 
1. 

INTRODUCTION 

All Member States had transposed Council Directive 2006/117/Euratom1 (hereinafter 
“the Directive”) on the supervision and control of shipments of radioactive waste and 
spent  fuel  in  2013.  By  25  December  2017,  Member  States  had  to  send  to  the 
Commission  reports2  on  the  implementation  of  the  Directive.  On  the  basis  of  these 
reports,  the  Commission  has  to  establish  a  summary  report3  for  the  European 
Parliament,  the  Council  and  the  European  Economic  and  Social  Committee,  paying 
particular attention to reshipment4 related to non-authorised shipments and undeclared 
radioactive waste. 

The  Directive  lays  down  a  Community  system  of  supervision  and  control  of 
transboundary  shipments  of  radioactive  waste  and  spent  fuel,  so  as  to  guarantee  an 
adequate  protection  of  the  population.  It  ensures  that  Member  States  concerned  are 
informed about shipments of radioactive waste and spent fuel to or via their territory 
with the obligation to give either their consent or reasoned refusal to the shipments. 

All  Member  States  have  submitted  their  third  national  report  covering  the  period 
2015-20175, while Croatia reported for the second time6. 

The Commission has prepared the present report on the basis of those national reports 
and taking into account the opinion of the Advisory Committee7. This report follows 
up the second report8 of the Commission for the period 2012-2014. 

The report provides an overview of shipments of spent fuel and radioactive waste in 
the Community; of the recent trends  and challenges on import, export and transit of 
spent  fuel  and  radioactive  waste,  reported  refusals  and  failed  shipments,  as  well  as 
proposed actions. 

1  

2  

3  

4  
5  

6  
7  
8  

Council  Directive  2006/117/Euratom  of  20  November  2006  on  the  supervision  and  control  of 
shipments of radioactive waste and spent fuel, OJ L 337, 5.12.2006, pp. 21 – 32. 
According  to  Article  20(1)  of  the  Directive  by  25  December  2011  and  every  three  years 
afterwards, Member States  shall forward to the  Commission reports on the implementation of 
this Directive. 
According to Article 20(2): of the Directive, the Commission shall establish a summary report 
in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Directive Article 21. 
According to Article 4 of the Directive. 
More  precisely, 
the 
(authorisations). 
Croatia joined the EU on 1 July 2013. 
The Advisory Committee was established in 2007 as required by Article 21 of the Directive. 
COM(2018) 6 final, Report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and 
the European Economic and Social Committee on the implementation by the Member States of 
Council Directive 2006/117 Euratom on the supervision and control of shipments of radioactive 
waste and spent fuels, 19.1.2018 and SWD(2018) 4 final. 

the  period  from  26.12.2014 

third  reports  cover 

to  25.12.2017 

2 

 
 
                                                 
is  accompanied  by 

the  Commission  Staff  Working  Document 
The  report 
SWD(2019)437 including detailed data and information upon which the conclusions 
are based. 

1.1. 

Context 

All  Member  States  in  the  EU  produce  radioactive  waste,  generated  by  different 
facilities  (e.g.  nuclear  power  plants,  research  reactors)  and  activities,  such  as 
radioisotope  applications  in  medicine,  industry,  agriculture,  research  and  education. 
Radioactive waste is defined as radioactive material in  gaseous, liquid or solid form 
for which no further use is foreseen by the countries of origin and destination, or by a 
natural  or  legal  person  whose  decision  is  accepted  by  these  countries,  and  which  is 
controlled  as  radioactive  waste  by  a  regulatory  body  under  the  legislative  and 
regulatory framework of the countries of origin and destination. 

Operations  of  nuclear  power  and  research  reactors  also  generate  spent  fuel,  i.e. 
nuclear fuel that has been irradiated in and permanently removed from a reactor core. 
It  may  either  be  kept  as  a  resource  subject  to  reprocessing  or  be  discarded  as 
radioactive waste for final disposal with no further use foreseen.  

When spent fuel and radioactive waste are generated they are stored prior to possible 
(re)processing  and  disposal.  Movement  of  such  materials,  also  referred  to  as 
shipment,  occurs  in  the  majority  of  Member  States,  regardless  of  the  scale  of  their 
nuclear  programmes.  From  the  sites  where  these  materials  have  been  generated  or 
managed spent fuel and radioactive waste are transported mainly by road, rail or sea 
and in limited cases by air. 

Import,  export  and  transit  of  radioactive  waste  and  spent  fuel  through  Member 
State(s) are regular practices in the EU.  

2. 

THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION 

Safe and responsible management of radioactive waste and spent fuel, including safe 
shipment of these materials in and outside the territories of Member States, is a legal 
requirement stemming from both international and EU law. 

At international level, the main reference in this field is the Joint Convention on the 
Safety  of  Spent  Fuel  Management  and  on  the  Safety  of  Radioactive  Waste 
Management (hereinafter “the Joint Convention”)9. Among other provisions, the Joint 

9  

The Joint Convention entered into force on 18 June 2001. It applies to spent fuel and radioactive 
waste resulting from civilian nuclear reactors and applications and to spent fuel and radioactive 
waste  from  military  or  defence  programmes  if  and  when  such  materials  are  transferred 
permanently to and managed within exclusively civilian programmes, or when declared as spent 
fuel  or  radioactive  waste  for  the  purpose  of  the  Convention  by  the  Contracting  Party.  The 

3 

 
 
                                                 
 
Convention  imposes  obligations  on  Contracting  Parties  in  relation  to  the  safety  of 
transboundary  movements  (import,  export  and  transit)  of  spent  fuel  and  radioactive 
waste.  It  requires  each  Contracting  Party  involved  in  transboundary  movements  to 
take  the  appropriate  steps  to  ensure  that  such  movement  is  undertaken  in  a  manner 
consistent  with  the  provisions  of  the  Convention  and  relevant  binding  international 
instruments.  All  28  EU  Member  Sates  are  Contracting  Parties  to  this  Joint 
Convention10 which demonstrates their commitment to ensuring a high level of safety 
of spent fuel and radioactive waste – from generation to disposal. 

At EU level, the Directive has the overall objective to enhance the protection against 
the  dangers  arising  from  exposure  to  ionizing  radiation,  through  supervision  and 
control  of  shipments  of  spent  fuel  and  radioactive  waste.  Moreover,  the  Council 
Directive 2013/59/Euratom on basic safety standards11 defines harmonised clearance 
criteria  and  general  levels  for  release  of  material  from  regulatory  control,  while  the 
scope of the basic safety standards  extends to  cover human  activities which involve 
the  presence  of  natural  radiation  sources,  including  the  processing  of  naturally 
occuring  radioactive  materials  (NORM).  The  effects  of  the  Council  Directive 
2013/59/Euratom  over  the  implementation  of  the  supervision  and  control  of 
transbondary shipments should be followed by the Commission in the next reporting 
period. 

Within the scope of this comprehensive EU nuclear and radiation safety framework, 
the  Directive  specifically  addresses  regulatory  authorisations  and  procedural  aspects 
of  transboundary  shipments  of  radioactive  waste  and  spent  fuel  generated  from 
civilian facilities and activities. The Directive applies whenever: 

  The country of origin,  the country of destination or any  country of transit of 

the spent fuel or radioactive waste is an EU Member State;  

  The  quantities  and  concentration  of  the  spent  fuel  or  radioactive  waste  for 
shipment (referred to as consignment) exceed the levels laid down in Council 
Directive 2013/59/Euratom.  

2.1. 

General principles for supervision and control of shipments  

Each Member State remains fully responsible12 for the definition of the policy for the 
management  of  radioactive  waste  and  spent  fuel  within  its  jurisdiction.  This  policy 

10  

11  

12  

of 

26 

there 

September 

Convention  also  applies  to  planned  and  controlled  releases  into  the  environment  of  liquid  or 
gaseous radioactive materials from regulated nuclear facilities. 
2016 
As 
(http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Documents/Conventions/jointconv_status.pdf). 
Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom of 5 December 2013 laying down basic safety standards for 
protection  against  the  dangers  arising  from  exposure  to  ionising  radiation,  and  repealing 
and 
Directives 
2003/122/Euratom, OJ L 13, 17.1.2014, p. 1–73. 
In  line  with  Council  Directive  2011/70/Euratom  of  19  July  2011  establishing  a  Community 
framework for the responsible and safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste, OJ L 
199, 2.8.2011, p. 48-56. 

89/618/Euratom, 

90/641/Euratom, 

96/29/Euratom, 

97/43/Euratom 

Contracting 

Parties 

are 

73 

4 

 
 
                                                                                                                                            
could include export of spent fuel and radioactive waste or import of such materials 
(e.g. for (re)processing) on its territory. 

The  Directive13  requires  Member  States  to  use  a  standard  document  for  the 
supervision and control of shipments of radioactive waste and spent fuel. When such 
materials  are  intended  to  be  shipped  to  third  countries,  Member  States  are  also 
required to  apply the  criteria for shipment  as per Article 16(2) of the Directive and 
the applicable Commission Recommendation14. 

Where  a  shipment  cannot  be  completed  or  if  the  conditions  for  shipment  are  not 
complied  with  in  accordance  with  this  Directive,  the  competent  authorities  of  the 
Member  State  of  origin  shall  ensure  that  the  radioactive  waste  or  the  spent  fuel  in 
question is taken back by the holder15, unless an alternative safe arrangement can be 
made.  The  competent  authorities  shall  ensure  that  the  person  responsible  for  the 
shipment  takes  corrective  safety  measures  where  necessary.  In  such  case  the  holder 
shall  be  liable  for  costs  arising  in  cases  where  the  shipment  cannot  or  may  not  be 
completed16. 

Any  refusal  of  authorisation  for  shipment  of  spent  fuel  and  radioactive  waste  (i) 
needs to be justified on the basis of the criteria set out in the Directive; (ii) should not 
be  arbitrary;  and  (iii)  should  be  founded  on  relevant  national,  Community  or 
international law. Member States’ decisions for consents or refusals must be in line 
with the provisions set out in the Joint Convention and the Directive17 which prohibit 
export of radioactive waste or spent fuel to a destination south of latitude 60° south, 
to African, Caribbean or Pacific countries or to a third country which does not have 
the resources to manage the radioactive waste or spent fuel safely. 

In addition to the three-yearly reporting to the Commission, Member States shall: 

  Notify18  every  year  the  Commission  and  the  Advisory  Committee  any 
unauthorised  shipments  to  a  third  country,  due  to  non-compliance  with  the 
technical  or  administrative  capacity  and  regulatory  structure  for  the  safe 
management of spent fuel and/or radioactive waste;  

13  
14  

15  

16  
17  
18  

According to Article 17(1) of the Directive. 
Commission  Recommendation  of  4  December  2008  on  criteria  for  the  export  of  radioactive 
waste  and  spent  fuel  to  third  countries  (notified  under  document  number  C(2008)7570) 
(2008/956/Euratom). 
Holder  means  any  natural  or  legal  person  who,  before  carrying  out  a  shipment  of  radioactive 
waste or spent fuel is responsible under the applicable national law for such materials and plans 
to carry out a shipment to a consignee. (Article 5(9) of the Directive). 
According to Article 12 of the Directive. 
According to Article 16 of the Directive. 
According to Article 16(1) of the Directive. 

5 

 
 
                                                 
  Forward19 

to 

the  Commission 

the  contact  details  of 

the  competent 

authority(ies) and all the necessary information for rapid communication.  

2.2. 

Implementation of the Directive 

For  all  shipments  (including  imports,  exports  and  transits  between  Member  States 
and from/to outside the Community) within the scope of the Directive, the Directive 
requires  the  use  of  a  standard  document20.  This  document  was  established  by 
Commission  Decision  in  200821  and  amended  in  2011,  and  complements  the 
Directive. The standard document includes forms for the following purposes: 

  Application for authorisation for shipment of spent fuel or radioactive waste; 

  Acknowledgement of receipt of application – request for missing information 

for spent fuel and radioactive waste; 

  Consent  or  refusal  of  radioactive  waste  or  spent  fuel  shipment  by  the 

competent authorities concerned; 

  Authorisation of shipment of spent fuel and radioactive waste; 

  Description of radioactive waste consignment and list of packages; 

  Acknowledgement of receipt of radioactive waste and spent fuel. 

According  to  the  national  reports  the  majority  of  Member  States  did  not  experience 
any particular issues in  the use of the standard document. For the sake of continous 
improvement,  a  few  Member  States  suggested  to  introduce  the  “identify  shipment 
number”  in  a  specific  section  of  the  standard  document.  This  section  would  enable 
easier follow-up of "return shipments" when spent fuel and/or radioactive waste had 
been  sent  for  (re)processing  abroad,  and  enable  cross-referencing  to  previous 
authorisations/consents, hence facilitating overall monitoring.  

2.3. 

Opinion of the Advisory Committee  

The  XI.  Advisory  Committee  meeting  was  held  on  8th  of  October  2019  in 
Luxembourg.  During  the  XI.  meeting  the  draft  of  this  report  and  its  accompanying 
Staff Working Document  were discussed. Subsequently the opinion of the Advisory 
Committee was obtained via written procedure22. 

19  
20  
21  

22  

According to Article 18. 
According to Article 17. 
Commission Decision of 5 March 2008 establishing the standard document for the supervision 
and  control  of  shipments  of  radioactive  waste  and  spent  fuel  referred  to  in  Council  Directive 
2006/117/Euratom, (notified under document number C(2008) 793), (2008/312/Euratom), OJ L 
107, 17.4.2008, pp. 32 – 59. 
In accordance  with  Article 3(5) of Regulation (EU) No 182/211 and the  Advisory  Committee 
Rules (25.1.2017) under Article 21 of the Council Directive 2006/117/Euratom. 

6 

 
 
                                                 
During  the  XI.  meeting,  the  Commission  presented  the  modifications  on  the  3-year 
reporting  template  on  shipments  of  spent  fuel  and  radioactive  waste.  The  voluntary 
reporting  template  is  widely  used  by  the  Member  States.  The  Commission  services 
revised  the  content  and  the  format  of  the  reporting  template  taking  into  account  the 
findings by the Commission during the third reporting cycle (described in the Sections 
4.4 and 4.5 of the Commission Staff Working Document SWD(2019)437).  

2.4. 

Competent authorities 

As  of  July  2017,  all  Member  States  have  provided  information  on  their  competent 
authorities  under  Article  5(13)23  of  the  Directive.  Following  the  XI.  meeting  of  the 
Advisory  Committee,  some  Member  States  sent  updated  information  (included  in 
Annex  I  of  the  accompanying  Commission  Staff  Working  Document  SWD(2019) 
437 final).  

The  list  of  competent  authorities  in  the  Member  States  is  available  on  the 
Commission  website:  https://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/nuclear-energy/radiation-
protection/transport-radioactive-materials.  

3. 

OBSERVATIONS AND TRENDS 

Overall, and having regard to the previous reporting periods, in the current reporting 
period a lower number of authorisations24 has been reported, especially for spent fuel 
shipment (see Figure 1). However, as each authorisation may relate to more than one 
shipment, this does not necessarily imply a decrease in the number of shipments. This 
report is the first to include details on the numbers of shipments.  

Six  Member  States  (Croatia,  Cyprus,  Estonia,  Greece,  Malta  and  Portugal)  never 
reported  authorised  shipments  on  their  territory  since  the  reporting  obligations  were 
imposed on them by the Directive.  

23  

24  

Article 5(13) of the Directive defines "competent authorities" as "any authority which, under the 
law or regulations of the countries of origin, transit or destination, are empowered to implement 
the system of supervision and control of shipments of radioactive waste or spent fuel". 
This  figure  includes  seven  authorisations  issued  for  the  shipment  of  "materials"  in  addition  to 
radioactive waste and spent fuel which accounted for 139 authorisations. 

7 

 
 
 
                                                 
Figure 1. Number of authorisations 

In  relation  to  refusal  to  grant  consent,  three  cases  were  reported  during  the  current 
implementation  period.  It  was  observed  that  some  of  these  shipments  (that  finally 
were not conducted) were however reported by the countries issuing consent: 

  One  Member  State  refused  to  give  its  consent  to  four  applications  for  the 
transit  of  contaminated  scrap  metal,  considering  the  application  out  of  the 
scope  of  the  Directive  –  setting  provisions  for  radioactive  waste  and  spent 
nuclear  fuel  only.  These  transits  were,  however,  regularly  carried  out  under 
the applicable local legislation. 

  One Member State refused to import radioactive waste from another Member 
State for disposal purposes, claiming that the Member State of origin had the 
capacity to dispose of the waste.  

Member  States  did  not  report  to  the  Commission  any  issues  that  could  fall  under 
Article 4 "Reshipment related to non-authorised shipments of undeclared radioactive 
waste"; Article 12 "Shipment failure" nor Article 16(1)(c) "Prohibited exports". The 
only reshipment declared during this period was related to the unsuitability of some 
radioactive waste (from the medical sector) for a processing site abroad. Thus, based 
on  the  reported  information,  no  unauthorised  shipment  was  carried  out  on  EU 
territory during the reporting period. 

Delays  in  the  fulfillment  of  reporting  obligations  have  decreased,  compared  to  the 
previous  reporting  period.  During  December  2017  and  January  2018,  24  Member 
States  communicated  their  national  report25.  Also  the  overall  reporting  quality  has 
significantly  improved  over  the  three  reporting  periods.  Six  Member  States  use  the 
“identify shipment number”. 

25  

The deadline for the notification of the national reports was 25 December 2017. 

8 

 
 
 
                                                 
Nevertheless,  the  Commission  observed  some  residual  inconsistencies  in  reporting, 
which were corrected upon ad-hoc requests from the Commission services26. 

Additionally, the Commission observed some inconsistencies in reporting of different 
Member  States,  such  as  the  number  of  shipments  in  multiple  authorisations,  or  the 
total  radioactivity  and  maximum  activity  per  package  of  some  shipments.  All  these 
issues were clarified with the Member States. 

A detailed presentation of the transboundary shipments of radioactive waste and spent 
fuel  in  the  EU  during  the  current  reporting  period  is  provided  in  the  accompanying 
Commission Staff Working Document SWD(2019) 437 final.  

3.1. 

Statistics (2015-2017)27 

This section provides a statistical overview on authorisations and shipments, the type 
of shipments, the origins of the materials shipped, and the purpose of shipments.  

Authorisations vs actual shipments 

The  146  authorisations  reported  by  14  Member  States  in  the  period  2015-2017 
correspond 
to  1834  actual  shipments  (total  number  of  shipments).  Some 
authorisations cover several shipments (on average 12-13), and may exceed the period 
of time covered by the present report.  

As  can  be  seen  from  Figure  1,  86%  of  the  authorisations  are  related  to  radioactive 
waste  shipments  (125  authorisations,  of  which  7  authorisations  are  related  to  other 
materials28)  and  the  other  14%  of  the  authorisations  are  related  to  spent  fuel  (21 
authorisations).   

In  terms  of  actual  shipments,  98%  (1791  shipments)  relates  to  radiactive  waste  and 
2% (43 shipments) relates to spent fuel. 

Below, the authorisations are briefly described according to the types of shipments29, 
i.e.  intra-Community  and  extra-Community.  53  authorisations  out  of  146  involved 
transit through at least a third Member State. 

Intra-Community shipments: 

120 authorisations (82% of the total 146) relate to intra-Community shipments. Most 
of the intra-Community authorisations (106) refer to radioactive waste, the remainder 
(14) to spent fuel. These 120 authorisations account for 1769 shipments, authorised by 
14 Member States.  

Further details are described under the title 4.4 of the SWD(2019)437. 
The percentages used in this report are rounded to nearest integer.  
For example irradiated steel for research purposes. 

26  
27  
28   
29   More detailed information on the type of shipments (intra- and extra Community) is given under 

the title 2 of the SWD(2019)437.  

9 

 
 
                                                 
Compared to the previous reporting cycle the share of intra-Community authorisations 
is substantially unchanged (83% in the 2012-2014 reporting period). 

Extra-Community shipments: Imports, exports and transits through the Community 

26 authorisations (18% of all authorisations) relate to extra-Community shipments. 17 
were related to exports to third countries (12% of all authorisations), while 8 (around 
5% of all authorisations) were related to imports from outside the EU. With a view to 
actual shipments, 2% relate to exports and 1% to imports. One single authorisation for 
a transit through the Community is reported. 

With reference to imports of radioactive waste from third countries during 2015-2017 
five  authorisations  representing  14  shipments  of  radioactive  waste  were  issued  by 
three Member States. These imports were returns after treatment of radioactive waste 
(from  USA),  and  final  disposal  of  waste  from  non  nuclear  energy  industry  (from 
Bahamas and Monaco). Two Member States imported spent fuel from third countries 
for research activities, corresponding to three authorisations for 11 shipments. 

As regards exports  of radioactive waste from  the Community to  third countries, six 
Member  States  issued  a  total  of  13  authorisations,  representing  35  shipments.  The 
purpose  of  these  exports  was  never  final  disposal  in  the  territory  of  a  third  country, 
rather  it  was  research,  treatment,  and  return  after  treatment/reprocessing.  Three 
Member  States  issued  a  total  of  four  authorisations  for  just  as  many  shipments  to 
export spent fuel to  a third country. The purpose of these exports was  reprocessing, 
research, and conversion from high to low enrichment. 

One single transit originating from a third country was authorised during 2015-2017. 

10 

 
 
Figure 2. Extra-Community 2015-2017 shipments30 

Mode of transportation 

Shipments  involve  very  frequently  sea  transport,  around  56%  (81  authorisations), 
while  40%  (59  authorisations)  of  the  transports  are  by  road/rail  only  (i.e.  not 
involving  sea  or  air  transport).  Only  4%  of  the  authorisations  (6  authorisations) 
involved air transport. 

Origin of materials to be shipped 

Statistics show that around 75% of the authorisations (110 authorisations) correspond 
to radioactive waste originated from the nuclear energy industry and spent fuel, 12% 
originated  from  research  activities,  3%  originated  from  the  medical  sector,  and  the 
rest from other sectors. 

However, when considering the actual number of shipments, the share of shipments of 
the non-nuclear energy industry - including medical and research activities - reaches 
43%.  

Purpose of shipments 

Shipments are mainly related to processing of radioactive waste (such as treatment for 
volume reduction, or conditioning). This applies to 42 authorisations for  transport to 

30  

The export from Poland is related to the return of the spent fuel of a research reactor. 

11 

 
 
 
                                                 
the processing facilities (about 29% of the authorisations) and to 48 authorisations for 
their return after processing (33% of the authorisations).  

The  reprocessing  of  spent  fuel  (5  authorisations)  and  the  return  of  its  radioactive 
waste after the reprocessing (7 authorisations) corresponds to 8% of authorisations.  

4. 

FOLLOW-UP FROM THE PREVIOUS REPORTING PERIOD 

The  Second  Commission  Report  to  the  European  Parliament,  the  Council  and  the 
European  Economic  and  Social  Committee  on  the  implementation  of  the  Directive 
highlighted two issues raised by Member States during the first reporting period: lack 
of harmonisation of clearance levels for radioactive waste in the EU and the unclear 
rules  for  waste  containing  NORM  not  arising  from  "authorised  practices".  The  two 
issues  have  been  addressed  in  the  framework  of  the  Study  on  "Comprehensive 
examination and analysis of the situation of transport of nuclear materials" funded by 
the  Commission31.  The  study,  based  on  a  questionnaire  sent  to  Member  States' 
competent authorities and other transport stakeholders and on the proceedings of final 
workshop, delivered the following preliminary conclusions: 

the 

implementation  of 

  Lack of harmonisation of clearance levels for radioactive waste in the EU has 
not  affected 
the  Directive.  Council  Directive 
2013/59/Euratom  on  basic  safety  standards  addresses  the  lack  of  legal 
provisions  on  NORM  not  arising  from  authorised  practices.  As  pointed  out 
previously8,  from  a  legal  point  of  view  all  waste  containing  NORM  which 
requires  regulatory  control  and  is  categorised  as  radioactive  waste32  falls  under 
the scope of the Directive. 

Modification  of  the  standard document was  not considered  for  this  reporting  period. 
However,  for  the  next  reporting  period,  the  Commission  will  collaborate  with 
Member States in order to enhance the harmonization of the standard document with 
the reporting template requirements.  

5. 

CONCLUSIONS 

The  implementation  of  the  Directive  ensures  that  all  transboundary  movements  of 
radioactive waste and spent fuel within the Community take place only with the prior 
informed  consent  of  the  competent  authorities  of  all  involved  Member  States 
(including  transit  countries),  through  the  use  of  the  standard  document.  The 
information  related  to  all  authorised  shipments  within  a  defined  reporting  period 
(three  years)  is  regularly  transmitted  by  all  Member  States  to  the  Commission. 
Supervision  and  control  of  shipments  of  radioactive  waste  and  spent  nuclear  fuel  is 

31  
32  

ENER/2017/NUCL/SI2.751899. 
Radioactive  waste  means  radioactive  material  in  gaseous,  liquid  or  solid  form  for  which  no 
further use is foreseen by the countries of origin and destination, or by a natural or legal person 
whose decision is accepted by these countries, and which is controlled as radioactive waste by a 
regulatory  body  under  the  legislative  and  regulatory  framework  of  the  countries  of  origin  and 
destination (Article 5(1) of the Directive). 

12 

 
 
                                                 
thus guaranteed, throughout the Community. For that purpose, the use of the provided 
"reporting  template"  although  not  mandatory,  is  highly  encouraged  as  it  allows 
straightforward data retrieval and avoids the risk of misinterpretation of the provided 
information.  

Some  inconsistencies  were  identified  when  cross-checking  Member  States'  reports, 
due  mainly  to  inaccuracy  of  the  provided  information.  Thanks  to  the  assessment 
carried out by the Commission, Member States’ awareness of reporting all shipments 
has been improved. In this respect, it was particularly important to have full data sets 
(Table  of  Part  B  of  the  reporting  template)  available  also  from  consent/transit 
Member  States.  In  addition,  the  Commission  observed  that  consent/transit  Member 
States have not always been informed when shipments had been withdrawn.  

No  shipment  failures  were  reported  by  Member  States  under  the  current  reporting 
period.  Two  refusals  to  grant  consent  were  reported  together  with  their  underlying 
justification.  One  reshipment33  was  reported,  due  to  the  unsuitability  of  some 
radioactive waste for a processing site. 

Compared  to  the  previous  reporting  period,  the  majority  of  the  Member  States 
submitted  their  national  reports  in  due  time.  Four  countries  did  not  submit  their 
reports in one month from the deadline; however they did so within six months from 
the deadline. 

Directive 2011/70/Euratom 

Overall,  the  Commission  concludes  that  the  current  EU  legal  package  consisting  of 
and 
Directive 2006/117/Euratom, 
Directive 2013/59/Euratom ensures high safety standards with respect to the risks of 
ionizing  radiations  in  the  territory  of  the  EU  in  the  context  of  transboundary 
shipments.  The preliminary findings of the above mentioned study31 also confirmed 
the  assumption  of  an  overall  comprehensive  architecture  including  EU  legislation, 
procedures  and  practices  implemented  by  Member  States,  ensuring  the  safe 
movement  of  nuclear  material,  including  radioactive  waste  and  spent  nuclear  fuel 
within the Community.  

The Commission will take the findings presented in this report into due consideration 
and  will  initiate  reflections  or  will  take  the  necessary  measures.  The  Commission 
worked  closely with  the EU Member States to  improve the reporting template.  It  is 
the  objective  of  the  Commission  to  have  a  common  agreement  with  all  Member 
States about the required information to be provided to facilitate the supervision and 
control of shipments of radioactive waste and spent fuel for the upcoming reporting 
period (2018-2020). 

33  

It was not related to non-authorised shipment. 

13